The King Street Emporium

Full Virginia Flake

Virginia

Full Virginia Flake is widely regarded as one of the benchmark straight Virginia tobaccos in production anywhere in the world, and it has held that reputation long enough that the claim no longer requires much defending. The blend is exactly what the name says: flue cured Virginia leaf, pressed using some of the oldest operating machinery in England and sliced into dense, dark brown flakes that carry the natural sweetness and depth the leaf develops through heat compression and time. There are no toppings, no casings, no additions of any kind. What you get is the tobacco itself, and the quality of the leaf is what makes or breaks it. Samuel Gawith's Virginia sourcing and pressing methods, unchanged in any meaningful way since the company's 19th century roots in Kendal, are what have kept this blend in conversations about the finest Virginia flakes available. It ages exceptionally well for those inclined to cellar it, and smokes differently depending on how it is prepared, whether rubbed out, folded, or packed as a whole flake.